World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty said that she completely deserves the no. 1 spot as WTA froze her ranking while other players were allowed to add to their tally by winning titles.
The Aussie tennis star successfully defended her Miami Open title as he won the final by the virtue of a walkover as her opponent and World No. 9 Bianca Andreescu retired due to an injury. This was her first title on Tour this year. Speaking at the post-match press conference, the 24-year-old said, “I didn’t play at all last year and didn’t improve any of my points whatsoever.
“There were girls who had a chance to improve theirs, so I felt like I thoroughly deserve my spot at the top of the rankings.”
Ever since winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2019 French Open, Barty has backed it up with some impressive performances and therefore she has earned her spot at the top of the rankings. The 24-year-old added how she felt that 2019 was a great year as she announced herself to the big stage and made progress in the last couple of years. She capped it off with a brilliant title defence at Miami where she won the last edition of the event back in 2019.
“The year we had in 2019 was incredible…and to be able to build on that now has been great,” Barty said.
The Aussie did not live up to the hype at the Australian Open as she was knocked out of the quarterfinals at the first big event of 2021. The World No. 1 was beaten by Czech republic tennis star Karolina Muchova at her home Grand Slam Down.
A lot of people thought that Barty had a lot to prove coming to the Miami Open especially after her performances at the Australian Open. There was a lot of criticism as some people felt that Naomi Osaka who won the Australian Open should be the World No. 1. So when questioned whether she had a lot to prove at the Miami Open, Barty said she had put in a lot of backroom room with her team especially when she was out of action.
She also added that the best way to reply to the doubters is by performing and winning games at the biggest stage. “We come out here and do the best that we can regardless of what anyone is saying,” Barty concluded.
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